Automatic flange oiler



0. A. STUDT AUTOMATIC FLANGE OILER July 21, 1925.

Filed Aug. 8, 1924 i] INVENTOR Oiio' 14.45 tu/dl/ Patented July 21,1925.

UNITE S'l'TES QTCIIO A. STUZDT, OF DROVILLE, CALIFORNIA.

AUTOMATIC FLANGE QILEE.

Application filed August 8, 1924: Serial No, 730:880.

To all whom it may concern:

Be. 1t known that I, O'r'ro A. Sr'on'r, a

'citizen of the United States, residing at Oroville, county of Butte,State of Calitornia, have invented certain new and use 'lul Improvementsin' Automatic Flange Qilers; and I do declare the following to be a.tull, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reterence markedthereon, which form a part of this application.

This invention relates to improvements in devices :[for lubricating theflanges of loco motive wheels to lessen the wear between the flanges andrails, especially on curves.

Various devices for the purpose have been tried out, but as far as I amaware, they are allconstructed so that the lubricant isled continuouslyto the flanges, not only when the engine is in motion, but when the sameis standing still. This not only entails a waste of oil, but what ismore serious, frequently causes a loss of traction between the rails andwheels when such traction is most necessary, as when starting, due to anaccumulation of the lubricant on the rails after flowing down theflanges. ()i1 is the most effective preventative of flange and railwear, but owing to the above described detriment to its use with thelubricating devices at present available, waterjis very often being usedin place of oil, which is not as efiicient or the purpose.

The principal object of my invention therefore is to allow of the use ofoil without the disadvantageous feature above named, by providing alubricator or oil dispenser so constructed and connected to certainmoving parts of the engine that only when the latter is running will anyoil be caused to flow to the flanges, in which case the feeding of theoil will be positive and automatic.

lVhile a few drops of oil may pass to the flanges after the enginestops, no more than said drops will thereafter be fed to the flanges nomatter how long the engine remains at rest, and without any manualvalve-closing on the part of the. engineer being necessary.

A further object of the invention is to produce a simple and inexpensivedevice and yet one whichwill be exceedingly effective for the purposesfor which it is designed.

Theseobjects I accomplish by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal oi the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings similar characters of rat erence indicate correspondingparts in the several views:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side outline of parts of the running gear of alocomotive, showing my improved lubricator mounted in connectiontherewith.

Fig. 2 is a transverse view of the lubricator assembly.

Fig. 3 is a side view of the lubricator, detached.

Fig. 4 is a, similar view, with the cover plate removed and partly insection.

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross section of the device.

Fig. 6 is a detached view of the lubricant measuring and. dispensingmember, detached.

Referring now more particularly to the characters of reference on thedrawings, the numeral 1 denotes the drive wheels of the engine, which inthis case is equipped wit-h the \Valschaert type of valve gear. Thisgear includes a fixed link 2 reciprocated through a certain are from anarm 3 lined on the main crank pin l of that wheel to which the mainconnecting rod 5 extends.

I employ this link, which is standard cons struction, as the means foroperating my lubricatorgas will be hereinafter seen. Any other suitablereciprocating member on the engine can however be utilized as well asthis link when necessary, since all engines are not equipped with theabove named type of valve gearings.

My lubricating means comprises a pair of separate units, one for eacht'ront drive wheel of the engine, position-ed just ahead of the wheelsand substantiallyin longitudi? nal alinement therewith. These unitsdepend from and are supported by a transverse oil-supply tank 6 strappedonto the engine frames 7. To keep theoil in a readily flowing conditionin winter, a steam pipe 8, from the exhaust of the air pump or othersteam-driven. accessory the engine, passes through the tank.

Each unit A comprises a body 9 having an intake member 10 at its upperend and a discharge member 11 at its lower end in transverse alinementwith the intake. The latter is adapted to be connected tothe tank 6, theconnection supporting the body, while a pipe 12 of suitable characterprojects downwardly from the discharge member and engages the flange ofthe wheel, at its junction with the tread, a suitable distance above thecenter line of the wheel. Additional supporting means for the body ispreferably provided in the shape of U bolts 13 passed about the tank 6and secured to lugs 14- on the sides of the body.

The body is hollowed out from its outer face to receive a cup bushing 15having a circular bore, the intake and discharge openings passingthrough this bushing.

A cover plate 16 is mounted on the body over the hollow area thereof,and makes an oil tight closure therewith. This plate has a bearing boss17 for a shaft 18 which projects into the bpdy-area centrally thereofand has fixed thereon a disc 19. This shaft is disposed so as to beparallel to the wheel axles of the engine. Fixed on the outside of thisdisc is an oil measuring, dispensing and valve member, comprising asplit spring ring 20. This ring has a width sufficient to have a snugrunning fit between the back of the bushing 15 and the inner face of thecover, while the outer face of the ring, tending to spring outwardly,always makes an oil tight fit with the bore of the bushing.

Provided in the outer face of the ring 20, in transverse alinement withthe intake and discharge openings, is a plurality of evenly spacedgrooves 21 of predetermined length, preferably cut tangent to the ring,and thus forming a number of independent pockets. It will therefore beseen that when any pocket lines up with the intake, it will fill withoil, which cannot escape until with the rotation of the shaft and ring,said pocket is disposed in an inverted position above the dischargeopening, allowing the oil to pass down through the latter and into pipe12.

To insure that the pocket will be emptied of its oil, I mount a springpressed plunger 22 in the casing just ahead of the discharge openingwith respect to the direction of rotation of the ring.

This plunger is radial relative to shaft 18, and its inner end is shapedto fit the cross sectional area of the grooves, which it enters as thegrooves move therepast with the rotation of the ring. This arrangement,as will be evident, causes the oil from each groove in turn to be wipedtherefrom and cause to drop down the discharge opening. This is ofespecial benefit in winter, when the oil is very sluggish and tends tostick in the relatively small pockets.

The shaft 8 projects outwardly to a point about in transverse alinementwith the link 2, and has on such end a ratchet wheel 23.

Turnably mounted on the shaft is lover or control arm 24 carrying a pawl25 en- 1,5ee,sse

gaging the ratchets and causing the ratchet wheel and shaft to beadvanced only when the arm is moved in a certain direction.Reciprocation of the arm, to intermittently cause such advancement ofthe shaft is had by means of a rod 26 or the li e connected to the armand to the link 2 a certain distance beyond its center of rockingmovement. The movement of the arm is such, in this case, that the shaftwill be advanced a distance equal to the spacing between two adjacentratchet teeth with every reciprocation of the link or for everyrevolution of the wheels. In other words, a full revolution of the shaftwill be had for the same number of wheel-revolutions as there are teethin the ratchet wheel, in this case 18 or thereabouts.

There being four oil pockets in the ring 20, four deposits of oil willbe passed to the wheel flanges with each revolution of the shaft. I havefound this proportion of parts and relative speed of operation to givevery good results on engines having drive wheels of five feet diameteror thereabouts. It will be evident however that should a greater orlesser flow of oil be desired, the pockets may be changed both as tosize and number, and the rate of advancement; of the shaft 18 may bealtered to suit different conditions.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I haveproduced such a device as substantially fulfills the objects of theinvention as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the device, still in practice such deviations from suchdetail may be resorted to as do not form a departure from the spirit ofthe invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic wheel-flange lubricator for engines comprising a hollowbody having opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotaryvalve member turnably fitted in the body between the openings and havinga pocket adapted to alternately aline with the discharge or intakeopening, and means for operating said valve from a moving part of theengine in a manner to cause the valve to have a period of dwell. whenthe pocket is alined with the intake or discharge opening.

2. A gravity feed flange oiler for engines including a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a valve memberinterposed between the openings to control the flow of lubricant fromone to the other, means for operating said valve from a moving part ofthe engine, and means positively preventing a flow of oil from theintake to the discharge opening when the engine is stopped andregardless of the position of the moving part relative to the valve atthe time.

3. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotary valvemember mounted with a close fit in the body and having a pcripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopenings when said member is rotated, and means between said valve and amoving part of the engine for so rotating said valve.

4:. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, arotary valvemember mounted with a close fit in the body and having a peripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopening when said member is rotated, a connection between said valve anda reciprocating part of the engine, and means included with saidconnection whereby with the reciprocation of said part the valve will beintermittently rotated in a continuous direction.

5. An automatic flange oiler for engines comprising a lubricant supplymember, a pipe leading to the flange, and an oil measuring memberbetween said pipe and the supply and arranged to take a predeterminedamount of oil from the supply and deliver it to said pipe at recurringintervals and only when the engine is running.

6. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant 'intake and discharge openings, a rotary valvemember mounted with a close fit in the body and having a peripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopening when said member is rotated, and means for rotating the valvemember only when the engine is moving.

7. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotary valvemember mounted with a close lit in the body and having a peripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopening when said member is rotated, a shaft projecting from the valvemember, a ratchet wheel fixed on the shaft, an arm turnably mounted onsaid shaft, a pawl on the arm engaging the ratchet wheel, and aconnection between the arm and a reciprocating part of the engine.

8. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a body havinga circular bore and opposed lubricant intake and discharge openingsleading to the bore, a

disc turnably mounted in the body, and a split-spring ring mounted onthe disc to turn therewith, said ring making close contact with theinterior walls of the body and having a peripheral pocket adapted toalternately aline with the intake and discharge openings when the discand ring are rotated.

9. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a body havinga. circular bore and opposed lubricant intake and discharge openingsleading to the bore, a mem' ber turnably mounted in the body-bore, meansfor rotating said member only when the engine is moving, and meanswhereby with such rotation a predetermined quantity of the lubricantwill be intermittently passed from the intake to the discharge opening.

10. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotary valvemember mounted with a close fit in the body and having a peripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopenings when said member is rotated, means for rotating said member,and means whereby as the pocket alines with the discharge opening withsuch rotation, the lubricant in the pocket will be positively wipedtherefrom and into the discharge opening.

11. An automatic wheel-flange oiler for engines comprising a hollow bodyhaving opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotary valvemember mounted with a close fit in the body and having a peripheralpocket adapted to alternately aline with the intake and dischargeopenings when said member is rotated, means for rotating said member,and a plunger mounted in the body just ahead of the discharge opening inthe direction of rotation of the valve, said plunger being arranged toenter and fit the pocket as the valve rotates and the pocket alines withthe discharge opening.

12. An automatic wheel-fiange lubricator for engines comprising a hollowbody having opposed lubricant intake and discharge openings, a rotaryvalve member turnably fitted in the body between the openings and havinga plurality of separated peripheral pockets, one pocket being adapted toaline with the intake opening while another is alined with the dischargeopening, and means for rotating the valve from a moving part of theengine in a manner to cause the valve to have a period of dwell when thepockets are in the above named positions, whereby to provide time forthe pockets to fill and discharge respectively.

In testimony whereof I ai'fix my signature.

OTTO A. STUDT.

